On opening day 2000, Joe picked up a Metro with a guide to the 2000 Philadelphia Phillies season and he decided to follow them. Since I knew the ins and outs of baseball from my years as a benchwarmer on the Temple Tomboys, I followed along and got hooked. It was a rough losing season, but Pat Burrell debuted in May 2000, and Jimmy Rollins debuted in September 2000, so we were just on the cusp of something, right? Seats at the Vet were easy to get, and we saw A LOT of games until it closed in 2003. I know it wasn’t a good baseball park, but I loved it there. I’ve been to a few games at Citizens Bank Park, but it’s not as easy with a little one. Since Lilia has been born, we went to one game– I won tickets for the Diamond Club section right behind home plate. The Phillies won that game in September 2007, and they soon became the National League East Champs.
Now here it is, October 2008, and the Phillies are one win away from winning the World Series!

Just got this email from BabyCenter:
Your Child’s Growing Brain
Fascinating things are happening in your child’s brain right now!

I clicked the link, but it didn’t tell me why Lilia decided to leave my side in a parking lot yesterday and take off behind 7 parked (thank goodness they weren’t backing up) cars, ignoring my pleas to stop, and dart into the road.

I am usually pretty cool in emergency situations, but I had the folded stroller in my hand and a couple bags, so as I ran, I ended up tripping and falling on the pavement while a woman, who is my mystery, unnamed hero, ran from the other side of the parking lot and scooped Lilia up before any harm came to her.

I thought Lilia knew to stay out of the street, to stay by our side, and to always hold my hand when crossing the street, because that is what she has always done. In fact, I thought maybe there was something wrong with her for not displaying what I thought was the typical “toddler dart”. Maybe she was lazy, or maybe I scared her into submission? It turns out she just hadn’t thought of it yet.

Luckily we were near Target. I hobbled* in and bought a leash. Until I’m sure the message has gotten through to her growing brain, the girl is in lock-down.

*My boo-boos on my left hand, right elbow and right knee will serve as reminders to keep her in lock down for at least the next month. At least my expensive no-line bifocals didn’t break when they flew off my face.

Wow, I just realized that graduation is December 13th. Today is the 14th, so that’s less than 2 months away! I’ll save my writing for papers and homework, and just post some more recent pictures!

The new Please Touch Museum opens this weekend. We went to a members’ preview, and were blown away. Wow! I can’t wait to go more often! They even have a carousel! The PTM is in Memorial Hall in Fairmount Park near the Japanese Tea House & Horticultural Center, so afterwards we went for a little walk. Here are a few pictures:

Aunt Maria came up to watch Lilia while Joe and I saw Nick Cave in concert last week. Her payment: another trip to the zoo. (Aunt Maria really likes the zoo!)
We didn’t go in the reptile house, but here’s Lil with a snake statue… sssss…

After I survived class this weekend, we went apple picking. I heard that Hopewell Furnace had a historic orchard with apple picking, so we stopped by there first. However, it was so warm on Sunday that we were bombarded with gnats. We also couldn’t figure out their map of which tree was which, so we went to the same orchards we went to last year. The gnats weren’t as bad there, thankfully!

Napping

With Thomas

Don’t ask

Masterpieces

Sunrise over the Straits of Mackinac

Penguin and Lil

Taking notes